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Monday: 3 miles Wednesday: 3 miles Thursday: 3 miles Saturday: 7 miles Weekly Total: 16 miles Training Total: 31 miles The frigid temperatures continue around here so my weekday 3-milers were all on the treadmill and unfortunately it was a rough week in the Cardio Cinema. Monday’s movie was way too intense and violent for this sensitive soul, resulting in me turning up the volume on my iPod so I couldn't hear the movie and keeping laser focus on the treadmill display so as not to see the movie screen. Yes, I could have left the cinema and gone upstairs to another treadmill, but it’s way too hot up there and I was already a couple of minutes into the run before I realized what I was watching. Staring at the treadmill display for 3 miles sure made it seem longer than it was, but it finally clicked over to 3.00! Wednesday’s movie was a bit more watchable for me, making the run a bit more pleasant. Then Thursday I walked into Wednesday’s movie again, just 3 minutes earlier. I've had it with the treadmill and the cinema...I need to get outside! This week’s cardio cinema disappointments and the fact that this week’s long run was 7 miles had Deb and me both dead set on getting outside on Saturday despite the frigid temperature and winds predicted. We pushed our run back a few hours hoping the temperature would eventually at least exceed the number of miles we had to run. It looked like by 11:00 that would happen. Deb had scoped out the bike path that has been our 7 miler in past years and it appeared to have been plowed so we agreed to meet up in the parking lot at 11:00. We arrived dressed more for a winter mountaineering expedition than for a run and headed off down the hill to the path along the river. Once down the hill, we ran along for a little bit on this: And then encountered this: It appeared that the plowing had ended and all that we could see ahead of us was a lone set of cross country ski tracks that were not at all inviting to those of us in running shoes, so we were forced to turn around and head back up the hill to the parking lot. All of this totaled only 1.2 miles--we still had 5.8 to go! We crossed the street and wound our way through a neighborhood for a while before eventually popping out on a main road a couple of miles from the car. We headed back along the road, but ended up back near the car with still another mile to run. We continued past the car for a half mile with a pretty strong tailwind that we didn't even know to appreciate until we turned around for the final half mile back to the car and were forced to battle the headwind!
I have no idea what our time or pace was for that run. All I know is we finally got outside for a run in this relentless winter and we lived to tell about it! With two full weeks of training under our belts, I'm feeling encouraged and am starting to feel like maybe we can actually do this! Some exciting changes are on the horizon for the Eyes On the Finish Line blog! Stay tuned... Monday: 3 miles
Wednesday: 3 miles Thursday: 3 miles Friday: Pilates (to counteract all this running!) Saturday: 6 miles Weekly Total: 15 miles Training Total to Date: 15 miles Finally. After all the weeks of waiting, the training finally started! My plan was to run my first 3 miles at 6:00 Monday morning before my husband went to work. Given the arctic temperatures we've been having for weeks now (maybe months!) and the fact that it’s still quite dark at 6:00, I knew that running outside was probably not an option, so I had resolved myself to kicking off my training on the treadmill at the gym. However, I was not prepared for the 12+ inches of new snow that I awoke to on Monday morning! The snow and the fact that I don’t know how to use the snow blower, combined with my husband being in bed with a violent stomach bug, all worked against my getting to the gym for my 6:00 run. School was cancelled, which meant no childcare at the gym, so going later and taking the kids with me was also out. Seriously? I had been planning this run for months! Was I really going to have to miss the first run of my marathon training? Not a good way to start. Later in the morning the kids and I got all bundled up and went out to play/shovel. I dug and dug and dug and dug and finally got the driveway cleared enough that I thought I could get the car out. And I got the kids tired enough to take a good afternoon nap so my recovering husband would only have to worry about sleeping kids while I was gone. A perfect plan B! Or maybe Plan C, if you count running outside on clear, dry roads in perfect temperatures Plan A. So, off to the gym I finally went! In recent weeks, as I was “training to train”, I discovered the wonders of the Cardio Cinema at my gym. It’s a small dark room with several tiers of cardio equipment and a big screen on which they play movies. Turns out it’s the coolest place in the gym, temperature-wise, and a movie to distract me from the act of running is quite helpful. I credit my friend, Erin, for introducing me to the joys of running in the Cardio Cinema. You never know what movie will be playing or where in the movie you’ll join in. This week I saw the end of 17 Again one day and then the beginning of it the next time. Still haven’t seen the middle, but I think I get the gist. Another day I saw the last 20 minutes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and then watched the DVD menu for the next 10 minutes because no one ever restarted it. Then came Saturday and the first long run, which Deb and I planned to do together. I have never run more than 4 miles on a treadmill and have always said I would never run even that far again. As far as I was concerned, three miles was my treadmill limit! Well, as anyone who lives in the Northeast this winter knows, things are pretty brutal around here and not very conducive to outdoor anything. The snowbanks are high and what’s left of the shoulders of the roads are covered in snow and ice, making it pretty dangerous to be a runner. Temperatures with highs in the single digits and wind chills below zero just add to the problem. The weather had us questioning whether or not we would actually run outside or be forced to run 6 miles on treadmills. Then my husband ended up being away for the weekend, leaving me with a childcare conundrum which forced our hand. So, Saturday morning Deb and I took the kids to the gym (so thankful for childcare at the gym!) and prepared to endure over an hour of treadmill running. We trotted along on side-by-side treadmills for over an hour watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and successfully completed our first long run! I hope to never have to run that far on a treadmill again, but with the company of Deb and Ferris, it was tolerable, and maybe almost enjoyable. Almost. One week down, 17 to go. In telling people about my marathon plans, the question I have most often gotten is why?, as in, “Why on earth would you want to run a marathon? You don’t even like running!” I've gotten this “why?” question so often that it’s actually gotten me asking myself that very same thing. So I thought I’d take the opportunity in this last week before the training starts, to sit down and see if I can actually convey the answer to those who ask and to myself: Why AM I running a marathon? |